educate me about the bore snake

hi all

was thinking about getting a bore snake. heard that they work well. anyone have any experience with them? do u put solvent right on the snake? what are some of the pros and cons?

Thanks
John

They are handy in cleaning powder residue, dust or sand from the bore at range conditions. The snake does not substitute good brushes and a cleaning rod though.

My range kit includes an Otis cleaning kit and Montana X-Treme 50 BME cleaning solvent.

At Home I have Lews Lead Remover.

Been the snake route. Have bore snakes for every caliber, experience suggestss it's a poor substitute for brush and patches.

Pros:

Quick and easy to use.
Does a good job on most carbon fouling.
Compact to carry and store.

Cons:

They get dirty.
Not very effective on copper fouling.
Need a whole new rig for each caliber (can get pricy if you shoot a lot of different ones).
Not a full replacement for a proper rod/brush/jag/guide setup.

Bottom line, they're nice to have at the range for a quick swipe, especially on a rifle that doesn't copper foul much.

I do have an Otis kit. I also have a broad selection of boresnakes in many calibers. The Otis cable and brush doesn't always fit in a tiny frame revolver, like my Colt Diamondback .22LR, any better than any other .22LR brush I could have used, by putting the brush in at the breech, putting the rod in at the muzzle, screwing it together, and then pulling them through.

I run my bore snakes first, then follow up with my J. Dewey Rod with a jag and patch soaked in hoppes #9 solvent. I've found that running the bore snakes through a couple of times helps reduce the amount of patches I use at one cleaning, thus helping me clean a bit faster.

I got one as a gift in .22, and the Wife bought one for 9mm and .40S&W. Nice to have, but not necessary.

I like them but they have limitations and should not be considered a substitute for a proper cleaning.

What I normally do is to clean the barrel with patches and solvent and when I'm done, I run an oiled patch through the barrel. I then pull the snake through 1-2 times to remove any excess oil and also any "fuzz" left in the barrel from the patches. The barrel normally comes out bright and clean.

If I'm not going to use a rod, I normally don't do anything to the barrel, unless it got wet or something. If you live in dusty conditions, a snake would work very well for quick touch ups to keep the rifle as clean as possible.

Get one if you like but remember that there is no substitute for a proper cleaning.

Indeed.

All: try this: after a long shooting session, soak ONE patch in solvent, wrap it around a bruch and run it through the bore.

Now, look at that filthy patch. THAT is the covering on your Bore snake. Are you ever going to use that filthy patch AGAIN??!? If you use a boresnake, you are doing exactly that: re-using a filthy patch.

No thanks! Bore snakes ARE the suck! I care more about my rifles than that.

Bore snakes work fine the way I use them... I clean the bore first with patches until they are almost clean and then run a bore snake through it twice and then run a patch of Kroil oil ..works just fine

pshaw...

Pretty much everybody has different ideas on cleaning methods and products. Whatever works for your situation.

The Bore snake is not the be all do all complete cleaning method but it can be very effective for lots of cleaning chores.

The two things it has going for it is ease of packing (toss it in the bottom of your range bag) and speed.

If you pull it twice through a nasty dirty Ruger 10/22 it will clean enough of the crud out of the chamber and barrel to get you shooting the rest of an afternoon.

Those two pulls of the snake is the equivalent of pulling out your one piece rod or screwing together all the sections of a kit and then brushing the bore with a bronze brush,then switching over to your patch holder and threading 8 or 10 patches and dragging them through the rifle, then packing all your rods and brushes away instead of wadding up the snake and tossing it back in your range bag.


The Bore snake is great for rim fire,chrome lined barrels and shotguns. It is somewhat disappointing for a complete cleaning of a normal high power rifle.

When I was helping my buddy at gunshows we would carry 4 or 5 different sizes,just the thing to clean the crud out of a dusty old gun to be able to get a look.

This would work both ways,let us look at something we were thinking of buying and impress the heck out of somebody thinking of buying some of our stuff. Getting a idea of the likely condition of a barrel cuts off many a problem in gun show deals

hell they're just tools for a job and circumstances dictate which tool to use.

- at home; no brainer, use the a good rod like a dewey, a bore guide, good solvent and patches.

-in the field or at the range use a bore snake or an Otis kit. The Otis kit to me is a bit better albeit slower to use. I like boresnakes for a quick pull through to dry a wet bore on a rainy day. The Otis is better than the bore snake for the oh shit moments. It can push a mild obstruction out, can't do that with a bore snake.

EG; last year while walking to my stand on a frozen morning, my upper sling swivel somehow unclipped and my rifle rotated backwards until the muzzle impacted the frozen mud. Now here I am with a custom rifle with a barrel made from a $300 blank and it's muzzle is full of frozen ice mud. Ideally the dewey rod would be the tool to use, secondly the Otis would have been handy if it wasn't 30 miles away. Hell I didn't even have a bore snake on me. A bore snake would not have been able to push the frozen mud plug out. (What did I do? I grabbed a thin flexible twig and worked the frozen mud loose. Took the bolt out, took a few mouthfuls of water from my camelback and warmed it in my mouth and spit it down the breach washing most of the junk out the muzzle. Inspired by reports of Afghanis cleaning their AK's with motor oil and knotted shoe laces I got to the stand I took a piece of paracord and worked it down the bore, chamber to muzzle. Tied some knots in the chamber end and pulled it through. Repeated several times. No way was I pulling the trigger with grit and shit in the bore. When I got home I did the Dewey thing and made sure the otis made it into my truck. That way it's only a mile or two away from use.

I use them on some of the kid's rimfire stuff. Like the above post...Simple green and the washing machine to clean said boresnake.

I use them all the time.

I personally think most new shooters should use a bore snake. Just foam the barrel....let sit over night...and run a bore snake through from action to muzzle 3 times and call it a day. If I see one more barrel ruined by improper cleaning with a bowed cleaning rod I think I will.....never mind...I think I'll replace the barrel and keep the lights on in the shop.

I have used one for years now, first in my 10/22 and later on my black rifles.

I have one for each caliber + brushes, mops, and jags. I use the snake for the simple, quick post range cleaning. I use the rod and brushes when I get time to sit down and give em some TLC. Simple Green is an excellent degreaser +1.

I had one and i hated it. It would be OK for field use but I would try and find some screw together cleaning rods in my pack before i took a bore snake. Expect to spend 2-3x more time cleaning

I guess this thread can be summed up with "Boresnakes, people either love 'em or hate 'em."
IMHO, I love 'em, but see then as just one component in my cleaning kit.

To answer your questions:
1. Yes. They work well for what they are intended for, but they are not the end-all of cleaning.
2. Yes, get one. Actually get a couple: one for your workbench, one for your range bag, one for your bug-out bag.
3. No. Do NOT put solvents or lubes directly on the snake.
4. Pros: Quick, easy, does a decent job, suitable for field use. Cons: Not a deep-cleaning solution, will not clear foulings, does not clean the chamber, cannot be used with strong solvents.

A boresnake is not a substitute for a dewey rod. Those who use a snake only should try the following:
- Give your rifle your best cleaning ever using your preferred snake-only method.
- Wet-brush your bore 20 strokes with a quality tight-fitting brush and a mild solvent.
- Run a dry patch
Surprise.

I do a boresnake-only cleaning when I just want to do a quick clean. When I do a thorough cleaning, I incorporate the boresnake with the dewey rod. Saves time and does a great job.

One downer no one has mentioned, is that the smaller the caliber of snake the higher is the probability it will break off in the bore, ESPECIALLY IF YOU LAUNDER IT.

The reason the military no longer use the old pull-through cleaner thong and brush is because they got used a lot or old and they'd break off in the bore, leaving the soldier with a useless rifle.

The same thing happens with bore snakes, especially if they're laundered, which deteriorates the material.
Pull it into the bore and the snake breaks off.
Try to pull it back out and the bristles jam it and the OTHER end breaks off. You now have a plugged bore and no good way to get it out.
I once emailed a snake maker and asked what they recommended as a method to extract a jammed snake.
They responded that they HAVE no method of extracting one.

If you're going to use a snake, when it gets dirty throw it away and buy a new one. These things were intended to be expedient, disposable devices to use in the field until you could get home to the real cleaning equipment.

I havnt used a rod in ten years I think they cause more wear than shooting , once I realized your bore didn't have to look like a mirror life was much easier .breakfree the barrel let sit , run snake two or three times clean chamber with brush , couPle more snakes and done . Wash mine in a pillow case tide in a knot . Never had one break

I've been using the same boresnake for over 7 years now and its strong as an ox.

Exactly..I use one on my Sons AR22 and in my 5.56 I use it in conjunction with a bore brush when needed but it does a adequate job and have never had one break either...I wash mine in one of those net bags like kids marbles sometime come in..........

first post nailed it. ive used them for years and like them for quickie jobs, but they arent a substitute for a real cleaning.

I have a dewey rod, and i still use the boresnake 99% of the time.

As other have said they aren't perfect. AND you can wash them and reuse. I post to share /remind that a bore snake has the surface area of 160 patches. Plenty of clean surface area remains after pulling it through. Comparing to one patch is bogus.

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